Letter: Keep the turkey

Dec. 5, 2018

To the Editor:

In the latest letter written by our plant-based diet proponent or animal rights person, whichever you prefer, and which appeared on Thanksgiving, he lists idiotic reasons why not to eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

His reasons are comical and, of course, false, such as giving your body a holiday from fat, cholesterol and hormones. Turkey is low in fat, healthy and does not contain hormones.

Another of his reasons is, “You won’t have to call the U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry hotline to keep your family out of the hospital.”

To him and some others, this may be amusing, but to me, he is making a mockery of our country and the USDA, which does a very good job providing the U.S. consumer with a constant and safe supply of meat and poultry through its inspection and testing programs.

He also lists the menu for his vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner, which, except for the plant-based holiday roast, doesn’t sound too bad and somewhat elaborate. I think most people, including some not so fortunate, would prefer a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the fixings.

I did notice the writer didn’t include any salads in his Thanksgiving menu. This is probably a good thing, because if he had made any with romaine lettuce, he may have had to call the USDA lettuce hotline for the latest on the E. coli outbreak and to keep from getting sick – except this is no joke, and the last I heard, romaine lettuce is a plant-based food.

I hope I have made my point on keeping turkey in our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and I hope everyone did along with being thankful and grateful for the blessings within each of our lives.

Finally, I usually don’t ask questions when I write, but just what is in a “plant-based holiday roast?”